Last month, a Roanoke jury decided that two doctors were at fault in a medical malpractice case, and that the family should be awarded a nine million dollar settlement to compensate them for mistakes made during a childbirth.
“The allegations were that the defendant violated the standard of care in recommending that Marsha Simpson — who was a gestational diabetic — undergo an induction of labor,” said the family attorney of the case.
Further complicating matters, one of the doctors called for an amniotic lung-functionality test needlessly. The doctor in question then failed to examine Marsha Simpson for complications stemming from the procedure before passing her case on to a colleague. The decision to perform the test was made without consulting or even informing Ms. Simpson. The second physician then decided to artificially induce labor, once again without informing Ms. Simpson of the decision, and once again handed Ms. Simpson off to another physician, this time a family care practitioner.
As a result of combining Marsha Simpson’s preexisting condition and the complications of these unilaterally administered procedures, as well as adding in the lack of communication when she was passed between three doctors, her daughter Marissa Simpson was born with severe complications. These included a loss of one third to one half of the amount of blood she should have had, extremely low blood pressure resulting from the lack of blood, brain injury due to oxygen deprivation, and kidneys that were, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. She has been through two kidney transplants, and has cerebral palsy as a result of her brain injury. It is hard to imagine any worse way the doctors could have handled the situation.
Multiple expert witnesses were called during 10 days of testimony, each stating that Simpson should have been given a C-section to deliver her child, rather than an induced labor. The jury found for the plaintiffs, and awarded the Simpsons a nine million dollar settlement to care for Marissa. The Simpsons have spent nearly two million dollars already trying to tend to Marissa’s conditions, and expect to spend at least eight million more.
